Leg-rest control linkage for reclining chairs



N v- 14, 1961 F. F. SCHLIEPHACKE 3,008,762

LEG-REST CONTROL LINKAGE FOR RECLINING CHAIRS Filed July 7, 1959 2Sheets-Sheet x 1 FIG. I.

IN V EN TOR.

FRlDTJoF F- SCHLIEPHACKE BY M4 ATTORNEYS 1961 F. F. SCHLIEPHACKE 3, 0 6

LEG-REST CONTROL LINKAGE FOR RECLINING CHAIRS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledJuly '7, 1959 INVENTOR. FRIDTJOF F. SCHUEPHACKE A'rroanevs United StatesPatent 3,008,762 LEG-REST CONTROL LINKAGE FOR RECLINING CHAIRS FridtjofF. Schliephacke, Berlin-Schmargendorf, Germany, assignor to Anton LorenzFiled July 7, 1959, Ser. No. 825,588 9 Claims. (Cl. 29789) The presentinvention relates to improvements in reclining chairs and in particularto a new and improved leg-rest linkage for reclining chairs of the typehaving an underslung leg-rest which is normally retained in a retractedposition parallel to and close to the lower surface of the seat.

The leg-rest linkage of the present invention is particularly adaptedfor use in a reclining chair of the type in which the seat is raisedwell above the floor surface by high legs. Such a chair is thedevelopment of the modern trend in styling, and for esthetic purposes,the chair frame is mounted on relatively long legs of narrow diameter sothat an open space is provided between the bottom of the seat and thefloor surface. In chairs having this modern styling, it is necessary toconceal the leg-rest in its retracted position so that the chair willhave the appearance of a normal well-styled chair in its upright sittingposition, and for this purpose the leg-rest must be mounted so that initsretracted position it is closely spaced from the bottom surface ofthe seat and is maintained parallel to the seat. The leg-rest linkagemust also be so arranged and constructed that in its folding orcollapsed position it is in very compact form with the links thereofclosely spaced from each other and preferably substantially parallel toeach other. In this condition neither the leg-rest nor the leg-restlinkage is visible fromoutside the chair, when the body supportingstructure is in the sitting position.

A problem encountered in the construction of chairs is presented by therequired movement of the leg-rest between its underslung position andits extended position. In order to bring the leg-rest from its retractedposition to its extended position, the leg-rest must first he swungdownwardly and forwardly from its substantially horizontal positionbeneath the seat to a vertical position beneath the forward end oftheseat, and then swung upwardly and outwardly so that it is spacedforwardly of the front end of the seat. 'The requirements of chairdesign are such that the height of the seat above the floor surface mustbe standard to insure a comfortable sitting position. The spacing of theseat from the floor therefore provides very limited space through whichthe leg-rest can travel in its path of movement. The leg-rest must ofcourse pass through this limited space in such a manner that it will notstrike or scrape the floor. A structural requirement of the chair,therefore, is that the lowest portion of the leg-rest must have aclearance of at least one inch above the floor during its path ofmovement from its horizontal underslung position in order to insure thatthe leg-rest does not strike the floor or even a rug upon which thechair may be resting. This problem is accentuated by the fact that theleg-rest must be mounted on relatively long links in order to enable itto be positioned well forwardly of the seat in its extended position.

In my co-pending United States patent application, Serial No. 803,195,filed March 31, 1959, I have disclosed a leg-rest linkage for chairshaving an underslung legrest, the linkage including means to delay theturning movement of the leg-rest from its invented to its uprightposition. The leg-rest is therefore prevented from passing through itsvertical position until after the (forward end of the seat, and theleg-rest linkage carried thereby, had risen suiiiciently to affordenough clearance space to permit the leg-rest to pass through itsvertical position 3,008,762 Patented Nov. 14, 1961 ice without strikingthe floor surface. This linkage featured an actuating link mounted onthe support frame and connected through an auxiliary link to the linksof the legrest linkage which controlled the turning motion of theleg-rest in such a manner that the initial movement of thebody-supporting structure was taken up by the actuating link with verylittle turning movement of the legrest.

In accordance with the present invention, the leg-rest linkage of myaforementioned co-pending patent application, Serial No. 803,195 hasbeen modified in such a manner that the actuating link is no longermounted directly on the support fname, but rather is mounted on theshort arm of a double-arm lever or bell-crank lever which is pivotallymounted on the support frame. The long arm of this bell-crank lever isconnected to the seat for actuation thereby through a pin and slotconnection. The bell-cnank lever provides a positive drive for theactuating link, and the dimensions and position of the bellcrank levercan be selectively varied to regulate the desired location at which theleg-rest passes through its vertical position.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a leg-rest linkagefor a reclining chair of the type described, which linkage is made up oflinks of relatively small size which are effective to move the leg restto an extended position well forwardly of the front of the seat, and atthe same time is so constructed and arranged as to provide sufiicientclearance between the leg-rest and the floor when the leg-rest isinitially moved downward from its underslung position beneath the seat.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a leg-rest linkageof the-character described which incorporates lost motion meansfordelaying the opening of saidlinkage until the front of the seat has beenraised a sufficient distance from the floor to permit the leg-rest topass freely therebeneath without striking'or scraping the floor surface.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a leg-rest linkageof the character described which -is particularly adapted for use inchairs having modern styling features including an open side frame, highlegs, etc.

Additional objects and advantages of the inventionwill become apparentduring the course of the following specification, when taken inconnection'with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view, with parts broken away and shown insection, of an improved reclining chair embodying the leg-rest linkageof the present invention, the chair being shown in its upright orsitting position, with the leg-rest in its underslung, retractedposition;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view similar to FIG. 1, .but showing thechair til-ted rearwardly to its fullest extent and the leg-rest in itselevated leg-supporting position;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view, with parts broken away and shown insection, of a reclining'chair having a modified leg-rest linkage made inaccordance with the invention herein, the chair being shown in itsupright or sitting position; and

, FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the forward portion of the chairof FIG. 3, showing the chair in its rearwardlytilted or recliningposition and the leg-rest linkage in its fully-extended leg-supportingposition.

Referring now specifically to the drawings, FIGS.'-1 and 2 illustratethe type of chair in which the leg-rest linkage of the present inventionis particularly adaptedand intended to be incorporated. The chair has afixed and immovable support frame or base 10 which includes legs 12. Abody supporting structure '14, comprising a seat 16 and a back-rest 18formed rigidly with each other, is

mounted for rearward tilting movement upon the support frame The supportframe 10 includes open side frames which have side rails 22 connected bycross bars or braces 24 and 26. The chair also includes a leg-rest whichis carried by a leg-rest actuating linkage designated generally by thereference numeral 32, the latter being mounted on the support frame 10and connected to the seat 16 in a manner which will be presentlydescribed.

As can be readily seen in FIG. 1, the legs 12 are made in accordancewith modern styling and are relatively high and narrow so as to presenta large unencumbered space beneath the seat 16. In conformance with thismodern styling, it is required in a chair of this type that the legrestbe retracted to an underslung position, as indicated in FIG. 1, in whichit is normally spaced a short distance beneath the lower surface of theseat and is parallel thereto, so as to be substantially hidden from viewby the side rails 22. For this purpose it will also be observed that theleg-rest linkage 62 in this retracted position of the leg-rest iscollapsed to a very compact condition in which the links of said linkageare closely folded adjacent the seat 16 and the side rails 22 and arealso hidden from view. The leg-rest 30 in its retracted position isinverted as shown in FIG. 1, and in order to be brought to its extendedposition illustrated in FIG. 2, it is necessary to move the leg-restdownwardly and outwardly through a designated path of movement, duringwhich movement the leg-rest is brought to a vertical position andapproaches the surface of the floor. As was previously indicated, thisinvention is concerned with the problem of providing sufiicientclearance of the 1eg-rest in order to prevent the latter from strikingor scraping along the floor surface when the leg-rest is moved throughsaid path of movement.

The body supporting unit 14 is mounted for rearward tilting movementupon support frame 10 by a link 34 which is connected at its upper endby pivot 36 to said unit 14 at the juncture between the seat 16 andback-rest 18. The other end of the link 34 is connected by pivot 38 to afixed part of the support frame 10'. When the occupant of the chair inthe sitting position leans rearwardly upon the back-rest 18, the bodysupporting unit 14 will tilt rearwardly about the pivot 36, and at thesame time the link 34 will swing rearwardly about the pivot 38 to carrythe body supporting unit in a rearward direction relative to the supportframe 10 until the fully tilted position of said body supporting unit isreached. In this fully tilted position of FIG. 2, the rear surface ofthe back-rest 18 engages the rear-most cross bar 26, the latter servingas stop means to limit further rearward tilting movement of said bodysupporting unit.

Referring now specifically to the leg-rest linkage 32 which incorporatesthe invention herein, the legrest 30 is supported and guided by a firstpair of links 38, 40 and a second pair of links 42, 44. The first pairof links 38 and 40 are interconnected in end-to-end relationship by apivot 46, while the second pair of links 42 and 44 are likewiseconnected end-to-end by a pivot 48. The free end of the link 38 isconnected to the structure of the leg-rest 26 by a pivot 50. The freeend of the link 42 of the second pair of links is also connected to theleg-rest structure by pivot 52 at a point spaced from the pivotalconnection 50 of the link 38 to said leg rest 26.

The free end of the link 40 is pivotally mounted at 54 on the seat 16 ata point near the forward end thereof.

The free end of the link 44 of the second pair of links is connected bypivot 56 to one end of an auxiliary link 58 the other end of which ispivotally mounted at 60 on the seat 16 at a point spaced forwardly ofthe pivotal mount 54. The auxiliary link 58 forms a part of the legrestcontrol linkage during the initial rearward tilting movement of the bodysupporting structure 14, and serves as lost motion means for delayingthe extension of the leg-rest linkage, in a manner which will bepresently described.

The link 38 of the first pair of links crosses over the link 44 of thesecond pair of links and is pivotally connected thereto at itscrossing-over point by pivot 62.

Movement of the first link pair 38, 40 is effected by a first actuatinglink 64 which is pivotally mounted at 66 on an elongated bracket 68which is fixed to the support frame 10 and forms a rigid portionthereof. The first actuating link 64 is connected by pivot 70 to theupper portion of the link 40 of the first pair of links and serve as apusher link to cause the first pair of links 38, 48 to move to theirextended position when the body supporting unit 14 is tilted and movedrearwardly.

A second actuating link 72 is associated with the second pair of links42 and 44. This second actuating link 72 has a bent free end portion 72awhich is pivotally connected by pivot 56 to the link 44 and auxiliarylink 58 coaxially with the point of connection between said two latterlinks. The second actuating link 72 is pivotally mounted on the shortarm of a bell-crank lever in a manner which will be presently describedand serves as a pusher link to cause the auxiliary link 58 to pivotupwardly during the initial movement of the body supporting structure 14from its upright sitting position of FIG. 1 to its rearwardly tiltedposition of FIG. 2.

The bell-crank lever 80 has an upstanding long arm 82 and a short arm 84arranged at an angle to said long arm 82. The lever 80 is mounted bypivot 86, at the juncture between said long and short arms, on a bracket88 rigidly affixed to the cross-bar 24 of the support frame 10. The rearend of the second actuating link 72 is connected by pivot 90 to the freeend of the short arm 84.

The upper end portion of the long arm 82 of the bellcrank lever 80 hasan elongated slot 92. A pin 94, carried by the seat 16, is slidablycontained within said slot 92.

In the sitting position of the body-supporting unit 14 shown in FIG. 1,the leg-rest linkage 32 is folded up into compact form and the leg-rest30 is held in an inverted underslung position substantially parallel toand closely spaced from the bottom surface of the seat 16, the legrestand its linkage being thus effectively concealed by the sides frames ofthe chair. In this sitting position, the long arm 82 of the bell-cranklever 80 is inclined upwardly and forwardly from its pivotal mount 86and the pin 94 is located at the bottom of the slot 92. The shortbellcrank lever arm 84 extends in a rearward direction from the pivotalmount 86, and the second actuating link 72 extends rearwardly in anearly horizontal attitude from the auxiliary link 58 to the short leverarm 84. The first actuating link 64 is disposed in a substantiallyhorizontal position, and a stop member 96, formed thereon, is inengagement with the edge of the bell crank lever arm 82 to immovablymaintain the bell-crank lever 80 and thereby support the front endportion of the seat as well as prevent the leg-rest linkage fromcollapsing from its retracted position.

When the occupant of the chair in the sitting position of FIG. 1 exertsa slight pressure against the back-rest 12, the body supporting unit 14will move rearwardly, guided by the guide link 34, in a downward areabout the fixed pivot 38 and the front portion of the seat 16 will moveupwardly and rearwardly, carrying with it the seat pivots 54 and 60.

As the seat moves rearwardly, the seat pivot 5'4 is brought closer tothe fixed pivot 66, thereby causing the first actuating link '64 to pushagainst the rearwardly moving link 40 of the first pair of links andcausing said link 40 to begin to pivot about said seat pivot 54. Thispivoting movement of the link 40 increases the angle between the firstpair of links 38 and 40, causing the link 38 to carry the leg-rest 30downwardly and forwardly from its original retracted position of FIG. 1.

Rearward movement of the seat 16 also causes the long bell-crank arm 82to pivot rearwardly about the fixed pivot 86, because of the pin andslot connection 92, 94. The rearward pivoting movement of the long arm82 causes a corresponding forward movement of the short lever arm 84,which drives the second actuating link 72 in a forward and upwarddirection. This in turn raises the auxiliary link 58 about its seatpivot 60 until said auxiliary link engages a stop 9-8 atfixed to theseat 16 and is restrained from further upward movement.

This movement of the auxiliary link 58 occurs during the initial phaseof movement of the body-supporting unit 14, and the actuating linkserves as a means for delaying the turning of the leg-rest 30, as willnow be explained.

The second pair of links 42 and 44 determine the attitude of theleg-rest 60, and the action of these links causes the leg-rest to turnabout the pivot 50 through an angle of substantially 180 from thesubstantially horizontal, inverted position of FIG. 1 to the reversed,upright position of FIG. 2. In traversing this path of movement, theleg-rest 30 passes through a point in which it is vertically disposedand in which its leading edge is closest to the floor surface. Since thelinks of the legrest linkage 32 are so arranged as to provide anaccelerated movement of the leg-rest 30 so that the leg-rest travels anappreciably greater distance than the body supporting unit 14,ordinarily this vertical position of the leg-rest would be reached at atime before the front portion of the seat 16 has risen sulficiently toallow the leg-rest to clear the floor surface. The auxiliary link 58,however, acts to delay the action of the second pair of links 42 and 44until the seat front portion has risen a sufiicient distance to provideclearance for the leg-rest.

As the seat 16 initially moves rearwardly from its sitting position ofFIG. 1, the bellcrank lever 80 drives the second actuating link 72forwardly, as previously described. The pushing force of the secondactuating link 72 is therefore primarily taken up by the auxiliary link'58, and the second pair of links 42 and 44- are afforded only a smallamount of relative movement so that the turning movement of the leg-rest30 about the pivot 50 is initially'held to a At the time that theauxiliary link 58 engages the stop 98, therefore, the leg-rest '30 hasbeen moved forwardly past the front portion of the seat, but has not yetbeen pivoted to its vertical position and is spaced well above the levelof the floor surface.

Once the auxiliary link 58 engages the stop 98, the auxiliary link 58becomes a fixed portion of the seat 16 and thereafter becomes inactive.The pivot 56 therefore becomes a fixed seat pivot and the secondactuating link 72 becomes inactive and immovable. As the body supporting unit continues to pivot and tilt rearwardly, the first actuatinglink 64 continues to exert a pushing force upon the link 40 of the firstpair of links, and the second pair of links, through its pivotalconnection 62 with the first pair of links, serves its normal functionin causing the leg-rest 30 to turn about pivot 50 until it assumes thesubstantially horizontal, extended position of FIG. 2. In this extendedposition of the leg-rest 30, the latter is spaced well forwardly of thefront edge of the seat 16 and is substantially at the level thereof.

During the rearward movement of the body-supporting unit 14, the pin 94slides upwardly in the slot 92 of the bell-crank lever 80, therebypermitting the forward portion of the seat 16 to be raised relative tothe support frame 10. The reclining position of the chair is determinedby engagement of the body-supporting unit 14 with the reanmost crossbar26, as shown in FIG. 2.

-When the occupant of the chair in the rearwardlytilted position of FIG.2 wishes to return to the sitting position of FIG. 1, he need only exerta slight downward pressure with the legs upon the extended leg-rest 30.A reverse action of the leg-rest linkage 32 then occurs to bring theleg-rest 26 back to its underslung retracted position of FIG. 2.

It will be appreciated that by selectively varying the 6 dimensions orposition of the bell-crank lever 80, the pitch of the leg-rest 30 can beeffectively controlled. Thus, the most desirable point at which theleg-rest passes through the vertical position can be selected to suitthe dimensions or styling of the individual chair.

Referring now specifically to FIGS. 3 and 4 of the drawings, there isshown a reclining chair which incorporates another embodiment ofleg-rest linkage demonstrating further features of the presentinvention. In these views similar reference numerals are used for likeparts, except that these numerals are in the series.

Again the chair includes a support frame having relatively long legs 112and mounting a body supporting unit 114 which includes a seat 116 andback-rest 118 formed rigidly with each other. The body supporting unit114 is mounted for rearward tilting movement upon the support frame 110by a link 134 which is connected at its upper end. by a pivot 136 to therear end portion of said body supporting unit, and at its lower end bypivot 13 8 to the support frame 110. The leg-rest is supported andguided by a leg-rest linkage 132 which is similar in construction to theleg-rest linkage of FIGS. 1 and 2, except as will be presentlyexplained.

As in the previously-described embodiment, the legrest linkage 132includes a first pair of links I138 and 140 connected in end-to-endrelationship by pivot 146. The free end of link 138 is connected bypivot to the legrest 130'. A second pair of links 142 and 144 are alsoconnected in end-to-end relationship by a pivot 148. The free end of thelink 142 is connected by pivot 152 to a point on the leg-rest 130 whichis spaced from the pivot 150, while the free end of the link 144 isconnected by a pivot 156 to the lower end of an auxiliary link 158. Theauxiliary link 158 is connected at its opposite end by pivot 160 to theseat 116. The links 138 and 144 cross each other and are connected attheir crossing-over point by a pivot 162. Movement of the first pair oflinks 138 and '140 is effected by a first actuating link 164' which ismounted at 166 on a bracket 1'68 rigidly aflixed to the cross-bar 124 ofthe support frame i110. The other end of the first actuating link 164 isconnected by pivot 170 to the upper portion of link 140 Movement of theauxiliary link 158 is efiected by a second actuating link 172 which hasan offset end 172a connected by pivot 156 to the point of connectionbetween the auxiliary link 158 and the link 144. The rear end of theactuating link .172 is connected by pivot to the short arm 184 ofbell-crank lever 180. A pivot 186 mounts said bell-crank lever 180' on abracket 1-88 aflixed to the cross-bar 124. The long bell-crank lever arm182 has a slot 192 with which is slid'ably engaged a pin 194 carried bythe seat 116.

The aforementioned parts are identical to those previously described inconnection -Wl-th the chair illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. The link 140of the first pair of links, however, instead of being pivotally mountedon the seat as in the preceding embodiment, is in this instanceconnected by pivot 193 to an extension arm 195 of the bellcrank lever180. In the upright sitting position of the chair shown in FIG. 3, theextension arm 195 is directed forwardly and slightly downwardly.

.The general operation of this leg-rest linkage of FIGS. 3 and 4 isessentially the same as that described for the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and2. In the sitting position of the chair shown in FIG. 3, the leg-restlinkage 132 is in the collapsed position shown, and the leg-rest 130 isin its underslung retracted position in which it is substantiallyhorizontally disposed and closely spaced from the bottom surface of theseat 116. A stop 196 on the first actuating link 164 is in engagementwith the lever arm 182 to maintain the seat and the leg-rest linkage inthe position of FIG. 3.

When the occupant of the chair in the upright sitting position of FIG. 3leans rearwardly upon the back-rest 118, the link 134 will pivotrearwardly to move the body supporting unit 114 in a rearwarddirect-ion, and the body supporting unit will also begin to tilt aboutthe pivot 136. During the initial phase of this movement, the secondactuating link 172 Will exert a pushing action upon the auxiliary link158 and the latter will pivot upwardly until it abuts the blockingmember 198, thereby absorbing some of the movement of the leg-restlinkage 132 and preventing the said linkage from extending until thefor- Ward end of the seat has risen a suflicient distance to provideclearance for the movement of the leg-rest 130. After the seat has risena sufficient distance to provide such clearance, the auxiliary link 158engages the blocking member 198 and becomes a rigid portion of the seat,the second actuating link 172 now becoming inactive and the link 144turning about the immovable pivot 156 to turn the leg-rest 130 about thepivot 150 and bring it through a vertical position to the substantiallyhorizontal extended position shown in FIG. 4.

During rearward movement of the seat 116, the bellcrank lever 130' turnsabout its fixed pivot 186 to provide a positive forward thrust to thesecond actuating link 172 for raising the auxiliary link 158, as hasbeen previously described. During such movement of the bellcrank lever180, the extension arm 195 is moved rearwardly relative to the seat 116,thereby carrying the pivotal mount 193 of link 140* toward the fixedpivot 166 at a faster rate than in the previous embodiment, and causingthe first actuating link 1454 to push the link pair 138 and 140outwardly at an accelerated rate.

While preferred embodiments of the invention have been shown anddescribed herein by way of illustrative examples, it will be obviousthat numerous additions, changes and omissions may be made in suchembodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

What I claim is:

1. In a reclining chair having a support frame, a bodysupportingstructure including a seat and a back-rest mounted on said support framefor rearward movement to a tilted position, and a leg-rest; leg-restactuating means carrying the leg-rest and operable in response totilting movement of the body supporting structure to move the leg-restfrom a retracted underslung, inverted position beneath the seat to anupright extended position forwardly of the seat, said actuating meanscomprising first linkage means and second linkage means for guiding thepath of movement of the leg-rest between its retracted and extendedpositions, and for controlling the turning movement of the leg-restbetween its inverted and upright positions, means operatively connectingsaid first and second linkage means for coordinated movement thereofwhen said body-supporting structure is moved rearwardly, lost motionmeans connecting said second linkage means to the seat, an actuatinglink for operating said lost motion means during an initial phase ofmovement of said bodysupporting structure to delay the turning movementof said leg-rest, and a double-arm lever mounted on said support frameand having a long arm and a short arm, the long arm being operativelyconnected to the seat for actuation thereby and the short arm beingoperatively connected to one end portion of the actuating link, theother end portion of the actuating link being operatively connected tothe lost motion means.

2. In a reclining chair having a support frame, a bodysupportingstructure including a seat and a back-rest mounted on said support framefor rearward movement to a tilted position, and a leg-rest; leg-restactuating means carrying the leg-rest and operable in response totilting movement of the body-supporting structure to move the leg-restfrom a retracted underslung, inverted position beneath the seat to anupright extended position forwardly of the seat, said actuating meanscomprising first linkage means and second linkage means for guiding thepath of movement of the leg-rest between its retracted and extendedpositions, and for controlling the turning movement of the leg-restbetween its inverted and upright positions, means operatively connectingsaid first and second linkage means for coordinated movement thereofwhen said body-supporting structure is moved rearwardly, an auxiliarylink pivotally mounted on the seat and connected to said second linkagemeans, an actuating link for moving said auxiliary link during aninitial phase of movement of said body-supporting structure to delay theturning movement of said leg-rest, and a bell crank lever mounted onsaid support frame and having a long arm and a short arm, the long armbeing operatively connected to the seat for actuation thereby and theshort arm being operatively connected to one end portion of theactuating link, the other end portion of the actuating link beingoperatively connected to the auxiliary link.

3. In a reclining chair having a support frame a bodysupportingstructure including a seat and a back-rest mounted on said support framefor rearward movement to a tilted position, and a leg-rest; a leg-restactuating linkage carrying the leg-rest and operable in response totilting movement of the body-supporting structure to move the leg-restfrom a retracted underslung, inverted position beneath the seat to anupright extended position forwardly of the seat, said actuating meanscomprising a first pair of links connected end-to-end and a second pairof link-s connected end-to-end for guiding the path of movement of theleg-rest between its retracted and extended positions, and forcontrolling the turning move ment of the leg-rest between its invertedand upright positions, means operatively connecting the first and secondpairs of links for coordinated movement thereof, one link of each pairbeing pivotally connected to the leg-rest, an auxiliary link pivotallymounted on the seat and connected with the other link of said secondpair, the other link of the first pair being pivotally mounted on amovable portion of the chair, an actuating link for moving saidauxiliary link during an initial phase of movement of saidbody-supporting structure to delay the turning movement of saidleg-rest, and a bell-crank lever mounted on said support frame andhaving a long arm and a short arm, the long arm being operativelyconnected to the seat for actuation thereby and the short arm beingoperatively connected to one end portion of the actuating link, theother end portion of the actuating link being operatively connected tothe auxiliary link.

4. A leg-rest actuating linkage according to claim 3 in which said otherlink of the first pair of links is pivotally mounted on the seat.

5. A leg-rest actuating linkage according to claim 3 in which the longarm of the bell crank lever has an extension projecting beyond theoperative connection of said long armto the seat, said other link of thefirst pair of links being pivotally connected to said extension.

6. In a rec-lining chair having asupport frame, a body.- supportingstructure including a seat and 'a. back-rest mounted on said supportframe for rearward movement to a tilted position, and a leg-rest;leg-rest actuating means carrying the leg-rest and operable in responseto tilting movement of the body-supporting structure to move theleg-rest from a retracted underslung, inverted position beneath the seatto an upright extended position forwardly of the seat, said actuatingmeans comprising a first pair of interconnected links, and a second pairof interconnected links for guiding the path of movement of the leg-restbetween its retracted and extended positions, and for controlling theturning movement of the leg-rest between its inverted and uprightpositions, means operatively connecting said first and second pairs oflinks for coordinated movement thereof, an auxiliary link pivotallymounted on the seat, the first pair of links being connected at one endto the leg-rest and at the other end to a movable portion of the chair,the second pair of links being connected at one end to the leg-rest andat the other end to the auxiliary link, an actuating link for movingsaid auxiliary link during an initial phase of movement of saidbody-suporting structure to delay the turning movement of said leg-rest,and a bell crank lever mounted on said support frame and having a longarm and a short arm, the long arm having an elongated slot and the seathaving a fixed pin slidab-ly engaging said slot for actuation of saidbell crank lever by tilting movement of the seat, the short arm beingoperatively connected to one end portion of the actuating link, theother end portion of the actuating link being pivotally connected to theauxiliary link for driving the latter in a lost motion phase of movementduring the initial tilting movement of the seat.

7. A leg-rest linkage according to claim 6 which also includes means forterminating the lost motion movement of .the auxiliary link at the endof the initial tilting movement phase of the body-supporting structure,whereby to permit operation of the second pair of links thereafter toturn the leg-rest to its upright position.

8. A leg-rest linkage according to claim 7 in which said means forterminating the lost motion movement of the auxiliary link comprises astop member affixed to the seat and positioned to engage and halt themovement of said auxiliary link at the end of said initial tiltingmovement phase.

9. In a reclining chair having a support frame, a bodysupportingstructure including a seat and a back-rest mounted on said support framefor rearward movement to a tilted position, and a leg-rest; a leg-restactuating linkage carrying the leg-rest and operable in response totilting movement of the body-supporting structure to move the leg-restfrom a retracted underslung, inverted position beneath the seat to anupright extended position forwardly of the seat, said actuating linkagecomprising a first pair of links connected end-to-end and a second pairof links connected end-to-end for guiding the path of movement of theleg-rest between its retracted and extended positions, and forcontrolling the turning movement of the leg-rest between its invertedand upright positions, said pairs of links connecting the leg-rest tothe seat, an auxiliary link connecting the second pair of links to theforward end portion of the seat, a first actuating link pivotallymounted on the support frame and pivotally connected to the first pairof links for actuating the latter in response to tilting movement of thebody-supporting structure, means interconnecting said pairs of links forcoordinated movement whereby the second link pair is elevated when thefirst link pair is actuated, a second actuating link for moving saidauxiliary link during an initial phase of movement of saidbody-supporting structure to delay the turning movement of saidleg-rest, and a bell-crank lever mounted on said support frame andhaving a long arm and a short arm, the long arm being operativelyconnected to the seat for actuation thereby and the short arm beingoperatively connected to one end portion of the second actuating link,the other end portion of the actuating link being operatively connectedto the auxiliary link.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,774,412 Lnckhardt Dec, 18, 1956 2,781,826 Rote Feb. 19, 1957 2,871,917Schliephacke Feb. 3, 1959

